Plunge
by yesiwritefanfiction
Summary: Prompt fill for superasia8 and a re-upload from 6-9 months ago ish. Dan practices for his swimming competition in the community pool and soon earns the attention of a student from the competing school who wants to sabotage him. Luckily, the mysterious lifeguard watches out for him.
It was a clear blue-sky day with the sun beating down at Dan's sun-blocked shoulders. Dan stretched his arms high above his head, and then across his body in one quick motion. He tuned out the splashing and laughing of small kids and other people around and in the community pool that he stood at the edge of. He raised his arms again, and then in one graceful motion, jumped off the edge of the pool and into the cool, chlorinated water. He immediately began to kick and reach forward, propelling himself through the water.

When he resurfaced he pushed right back off of the wall and began to push for the opposite wall, the wall where he had first gotten into the water.

He repeated this for several laps, before stopping for a breather and lifting himself out of the water with hands on the edge of the concrete. He wiped the water from his face and smoothed his hair back before looking up and finding himself beneath the gaze of the sun-glass wearing, black haired lifeguard who sat on a tall chair that allowed him to overlook the pool.

Immediately the lifeguard turned his head again to look over the children in the shallow end of the pool and Dan looked away as well, running a hand down his face again to sweep away any extra moisture.

He paced around the edge of the pool in order to let his heartbeat slow, before jumping into the water to repeat another round of laps back and forth. He repeated several sets of these laps, feeling clumsy each time he noticed the lifeguard glancing his way. It wasn't good for his practice, as he needed to be in his best shape when he had his competition at the end of the swimming season for his team.

The life guard was tall and thin, much like Dan was, but he had a scattering of hair across his chest, which somehow remained pale while he worked during the balmy, warm summer days, and jet-black hair. He began working at the community pool in Dan's neighborhood when they opened up the pool for use for the summer season. He hadn't worked there the previous year. Otherwise Dan would have noticed. This lifeguard was just his type: Dark haired, tall, thin, angular, and sinewy. The glasses he wore gave him an air of mystery as well, and it was drawing Dan in like a magnet.

However, he was sure if he made the slightest attempt to speak to him he would make a fool of himself.

Dan was painfully awkward and the only thing that made him feel comfortable was when he was gliding through water. Somehow though, with the mystery lifeguard watching, he felt awkward even as he pushed weightlessly through the water.

When he completed his exercise and practice for the day, he grabbed his towel from where he had hung it on the tall, wrought-iron fence and ran it over his face, arms, and chest. He was beginning to feel the tingle on his skin from the sun, alerting him that his sun-block had begun to wear off. He sat on a lounge chair, and put his elbows on his knees as he ran the towel over his hair, shaking it out and drying it out as best he could

"How's it going, Howell?" A voice said from behind him and Dan looked up, taking notice of the shadow that was casted on the ground before him. Dread sunk into his bones and he turned stiffly to find the tanned-figure of one of the best swimmers from the school he was meant to compete against.

"Just getting a few laps in," Dan said mutely, turning away from Eric.

"I didn't know you lived around here," Eric said, and Dan could swear he could see a sneer through the back of his own skull.

Dan stood and turned, "I do, actually." Dan could see the territorial stance Eric was taking and didn't back down. This was a neighborhood pool and he had a much right to use it as Eric did.

He walked away, glancing around nervously.

The mystery lifeguard was looking their way, most likely catching sight of the exchange he had with Eric. He relaxed into his chair again when he saw that Dan was walking away and leaving the pool without another incident, but kept a wary eye on Eric. Phil could easily see the tension in that exchange.

The next day, Dan returned to the pool and couldn't keep himself from scanning the area for the lifeguard when he first arrived. And sure enough, he was there. Sitting in his chair, one leg bent over the other. The lifeguard glanced his way so Dan quickly dropped his eyes, a smile tugging at his lips. He quickly chose a spot to claim and threw his towel over the fence like he normally did.

He found a bit of space away from where the majority of the other people gathered and began to stretch. He lunged forward to stretch his calves and felt the satisfying burn of the stretch. He reached back to grab hold of each of his feet and stretch each of his thighs. He stretched his arms as well, across his body and above his head before he got ready to jump into the water and start his laps.

Without much incident he went about as he normally did for his exercise. He was always aware of the lifeguard though.

When he completed his exercises he climbed out of the pool one last time and found that his towel was not where he left it.

He looked around the pool in alarm.

 _Are you fucking serious?_ He thought to himself in frustration. Someone had to have taken his towel. There was no other explanation. It wasn't anywhere else to be seen, nor was it a particularly windy day. Not that it was likely that wind alone could sweep away the towel. His towel was noticeable as well. It was bright blue. But it wasn't anywhere in sight.

"Here," a deep voice said to him after he had been sitting in a lounge chair for a few minutes to let himself air dry.

He turned and found a clean, white towel being thrust at him.

He looked up and found the mysterious lifeguard standing over him, holding out a towel for him.

"I noticed that you seem to have lost your towel," he explained.

"Thanks," Dan took the towel and ran the material over his arms and chest. The lifeguard still stood there.

"I doubt it could have just up and walked away, though," Dan finally said.

"Huh?"

"The towel," Dan said, raising his eyebrows for a moment.

"Right," the lifeguard said.

"Thanks," Dan said, after he had become substantially drier.

"Keep it," the man said with a dismissive gesture.

"Oh, erm, okay then."

"So are you a swimmer?" The lifeguard asked him.

"Yeah. I'm on a team with my school actually," Dan shared.

"You swim very fast," he complimented.

"Not fast enough. Not for the records," Dan replied, his voice lowering slightly.

"You don't time yourself," he observed.

"No, but I do when I'm on my school campus. I just come here mostly for the exercise," Dan explained, taking note that Phil paid enough attention to comment that he didn't time himself. "You've got a name?" he finally asked.

"Phil," the lifeguard said.

"Well, thanks for the towel, Phil," Dan said as he stood.

"No problem," Phil said. "If you need anything else let me know."

"Sure," Dan said. "Have a good one."

"You too," Phil said, before Dan walked passed him and towards the exit of the pool area.

* * *

"What are you doing here again, Howell?" Eric called to Dan when he walked into the enclosed pool area.

"Swimming, if you must know," Dan replied coolly. He found a place for his towel and began to stretch. He glanced towards Phil who sat reliably in his chair. He leaned forward slightly, noticing the exchange he had with Eric.

"Think you're hot, Howell?" Eric challenged him.

"What the fuck are you on about?" Dan said, his voice rising slightly.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about," Eric said. "After last year, you must think you're the biggest badass around."

"Are you seriously still pissed over that? That my team won against your's?" Dan asked.

"Wouldn't you be?"

"It was a year ago. And it's only a sport," Dan said gratingly, fists clenching. "Why don't you just drop it and leave me alone. I just want to swim."

"Not here. Not while I'm around," Eric said.

"This is a public pool. Anyone is allowed to swim here."

"Is everything okay here?" Phil's deep voice broke up the tension.

"Absolutely," Dan said. He didn't take his eyes off of Eric, who had finally come out of his aggressive stance. "Eric was just leaving."

Eric didn't say anything, but walked with a huff, leaving Phil and Dan to watch him go.

"What was that about?" Phil asked him.

"I have no idea," Dan said, lowering himself to a lounge chair. Obviously, he knew exactly what it was about. Eric had a grudge. But he didn't want to take the time to explain to Phil.

"I think I may know where my towel went, though," Dan said, as it occurred to him that Eric might be the cause of his missing towel from the previous day.

"You think he took it?" Phil asked as his voice rose slightly in alarm.

"Maybe. The guy's got a grudge against me," Dan said.

"For what?"

"Well, against the whole swim team really. For beating his school. I guess he doesn't want me swimming here or something," he explained.

"He doesn't have a say in who can or can't swim here," Phil said.

"That's what I told him," Dan said in agreement.

"Well, if anything else happens I'll keep an eye out," Phil assured Dan.

"Thanks."

Phil left Dan to complete his exercise for the day and just as he said, he watched out in case Eric should come around and cause trouble again.

Eric didn't appear again at the pool until the next weekend. He had begun to arrive close to around the same time Dan did, and Phil always watched carefully. He seemed only to watch Dan swim and didn't bother to swim himself.

Until one day, he sat near where Dan usually chose as the edge he would push off of and into the water.

As Dan raised his arms to plunge into the water on a particularly busy day at the pool, Eric called out loudly, "Dan!"

To Phil's horror, Dan slipped on the edge of the concrete and toppled awkwardly and forcefully into the water. When he didn't resurface immediately, Phil panicked and immediately rose from his chair to dive into the water after him.

He opened his eyes, blinking at the burn of the chlorine, before spotting Dan's blurry figure in the deep end of the pool. He seemed to be dazed.

Phil propelled himself through the water, kicking and reaching out before he was able to wrap his arms around Dan and bring them back to the surface.

When they broke through the water Phil pulled him up the steps and people gathered, with voices high in alarm and worry.

"Stop!" Phil shouted. Dan was definitely unconscious and it didn't seem as though his chest was rising and falling as it should. Phil leaned forward and noticed that Dan's heart was still beating, but was faint. He then put his ear near Dan's lips, but no air was coming through.

"Oh god," he mumbled. A wave of heat ran through him at the realization he might have to give Dan mouth to mouth. But he knew he couldn't let any awkwardness get in the way because if Dan didn't start breathing again, his heart would soon quit beating as well.

Mechanically, tossing aside any attracting he had towards the other male, and ignoring awkward and rude comments, he went through the motions of carrying out mouth to mouth and in a few minutes Dan was coughing up a bit of water and blinking rapidly.

He squinted at the sun and Phil leaned forward to block the light.

"Are you okay?" Phil asked softly.

"Phil?" Dan asked with a rough voice. Dan was once again caught off guard by how beautiful this man was as he blinked. He had nice eyes, too.

"Yeah," he breathed out in relief.

"Jesus," Dan mumbled. He glanced around and then everything began to process. "That asshole."

He moved to stand but Phil stopped him.

"Don't worry about him," Phil said. "I'll make sure he gets banned from coming here. He's been acting sketch for quite a while. We just need to get you in the office. C'mon."

Phil helped him to stand and walk into the office as he said he would. The office was a very small room, but in the same small building there was a bathroom which included showers as well as a supply room which had pool toys and cleaning tools.

In the office there was a heavy, false-wood desk and behind the desk was a coworker of Phil's, dressed in a red polo shirt and khaki shorts. They shot up from the creaky, wheeled chair immediately and in alarm, said, "What happened?"

"Some kid thought it'd funny to get this guy to slip on the edge of the pool," Phil explained, leading Dan to sit in a hard-backed chair against a wall and next to an iron filing cabinet.

"What kid?"

Phil began to explain what he'd been noticing to his co-worker, or manager, Dan realized as the conversation progressed.

"He's probably gone by now," Dan said when Phil's manager was about to leave the office.

"I'll go check," Phil said.

Phil left the room and the pool manager got an icepack from a mini fridge and passed it to Dan.

"I can already see a bump forming," the guy explained.

Dan put the ice pack to his head, where he remembered splitting pain coming from and sighed in relief. He leaned his head back against the wall with his eyes shut. His lungs stung with every breathe he took.

When Phil came back into the room, he said, "He is gone."

"Told you," Dan mumbled.

"Will he come back?" Phil's manager asked him.

"I don't know," he replied.

"Well, if he does," he said, "Phil will let me know and we'll take care of this."

"Okay," was all Dan said.

"Why don't you sit with him for a bit. I'll go keep an eye out," the pool manager said to Phil.

"Sure," Phil said.

The manager left the office and shut the door behind him.

"Are you okay?' Phil asked again.

"I think so," Dan said. He blinked and looked at Phil suddenly. "You gave me mouth to mouth?"

"I kind of had to," Phil said.

"Gee, I don't even know your last name," Dan said and Phil let out a roll of laughter.

"It's Lester," he said as he continued to laugh. "And come to think of it, I don't know your name at all."

"Dan Howell," Dan replied with a smile before resting his head against the wall again.

"Dan," Phil said thoughtfully, liking the feel of the sounds on his tongue.

Dan hummed.

"Don't fall asleep," Phil said suddenly.

"Why not?"

"You may have a concussion," Phil warned.

"Oh, don't be silly. It can't be that bad," Dan reasoned.

"You never know."

Dan only hummed again. "Maybe you should distract me," he flirted and realized that maybe he did have a concussion because it was not like him to blatantly flirt with someone.

"What do you have in mind?" Phil played along.

"Well, I mean, I'm kind of disappointed I wasn't awake for that mouth to mouth thing," Dan said daringly.

"Oh, yeah?" Phil said with a smirk. "I could probably change that."

Dan opened his eyes and found Phil leaning toward him. Phil took the ice pack Dan held and put it on the desk before leaning forward and catching his lips with own.

Dan tensed up, before relaxing against Phil's touch and letting out a sigh. Phil's lips were soft and warm and soothing as they moved against his own.

"Better than unconscious mouth to mouth?" Phil asked him when he pulled away.

"Loads," Dan breathed out before reaching to latch his lips to Phil's again.

After that day at the pool, Dan didn't see Eric come around for quite a while and when he did, they alerted the pool manager and he was soon banned from using the pool. Apparently, it wasn't the first time he had stirred up trouble. Not only had he picked a couple fights before, but he had made unwanted advances towards a few girls.

And he and Phil weren't about to have their last kiss anytime soon. Or ever, Dan could only hope.

* * *

so i wrote this like a year ago ish and i wanted to reupload it

i wrote it for superasia8 i dont remember the actual prompt very well but it had to do with Dan being in a swimming competition and having a rival

please review and let me know what you think


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